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Win. Loss. Loss. Loss. Loss. Win. Loss. The story of the Kolkata Knight Riders' (KKR) IPL 2021 journey before the tournament was indefinitely suspended.
Having started their campaign in grand fashion by trumping the Sunrisers Hyderabad on the back Nitish Rana and Rahul Tripathi's exploits with the bat - the two-time IPL champions offered a gleam of hope after a disappointing 2020 season. But the journey after the opening match has been a downward slump for Eoin Morgan's boys. After their opening day success, KKR lost four matches on the trot. More than the points dropped, it is the nature of those losses that will irk the team and their fans.
KKR let matches slip away from positions of strength
Against the defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI), KKR needed just 31 runs off 30 balls with six wickets in hand, and yet they lost by 10 runs.
In their next match, they had the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) reeling at 9-2 after two overs, with Virat Kohli back in the dugout. Even Devdutt Padikkal was later dismissed for just 25. And yet, KKR allowed Glenn Maxwell and AB de Villiers to slam 98 runs in the last seven overs to help RCB post a match-winning 204-4 on a sluggish Chepauk track.
In their very next match, KKR allowed another team to post a total in excess of 200, albeit on a much truer pitch. KKR's bowlers were taken to the cleaners by every Chennai Super Kings (CSK) batsman who walked out to bat. Partnerships of 115, 50, 36 and 19* clearly demonstrated KKR's inability to pick up wickets at crucial junctures. And as if conceding a total of 220 wasn't disastrous enough - KKR's top-order fell like a pack of cards to Deepak Chahar, who had them struggling at 31-5 within the powerplay. Dinesh Karthik, Pat Cummins and Andre Russell did give them some hope, but in the end, it was not enough.
Fast-forward three days and it's a similar tale, this time against the Rajasthan Royals (RR), with Morris being the wrecker-in-chief. The KKR innings never got going as RR pinned them back every time a partnership started to develop. A under-par total of 133 was chased down by the Royals with seven balls to spare.
A win did follow the string of losses, with the Punjab Kings' (PBKS) middle-order capsizing, thus setting KKR a mediocre target of 124, which they chased down comfortably, with Morgan and Tripathi playing sizeable knocks. But it was more a case of the opposition failing than KKR succeeding - as evidenced by their thumping loss to the Delhi Capitals (DC) three days later. That loss in itself sums up the dire condition of the KKR camp. Baffling team selection, misfiring players and lack of cohesion amongst their units have all contributed to their disappointing IPL 2021 journey to this point.
So what can they do to swing their drastically falling fortunes? Let's take a deeper look.
#1 Team selection and batting order
With partnerships of 53 and 72, the KKR pairing of Nitish Rana and Shubman Gill at the top of the order started off well, but they have fallen away slightly with just 76 partnership runs in the next five matches combined. KKR need to explore the possibility of pairing Tripathi and Rana at the top, with Shubman Gill at no.3 providing some stability in the middle overs.
The middle-order of Morgan, Karthik and Russell looks solid on paper, but KKR need to analyze particular situations and matchups wisely in terms of the batting positions of the trio.
KKR have tried to play Sunil Narine and Shakib Al Hasan in the midst of these three, and it has proven to be counter-productive. Narine and Shakib have failed with both the bat and ball, and KKR need to look at Pawan Negi as a possible candidate for the finger-spinning all-rounder's role. This also frees up an overseas slot for them to resolve more pressing issues.
Cummins has done well with the bat and remains a threat with the ball, so his selection at no.8 is thoroughly justified. Prasidh Krishna is also an important player in this line-up, and although he has been slightly expensive this year, he can do well when on song. The case with Varun Chakravarthy is similar - he averages slightly higher than he would have liked, but he has been economical and perhaps KKR's best bowler in the tournament so far.
This brings us to the last player - the slot that has been the Knight Riders' Achilles heel this season. They have tried Shivam Mavi, Kamlesh Nagarkoti and Harbhajan Singh for the role - but to no avail. Their combined figures read 18-0-145-2. And while Mavi has been good with the ball, barring the DC match, KKR need someone to pick up wickets in bulk.
They have the option of choosing between Lockie Ferguson and Ben Cutting here. They can play Cutting on slightly tough pitches to add some much-needed depth to both their batting and bowling. Ferguson, meanwhile, with his pace, can scalp wickets on the flattest of pitches and can thus be utilized batting-friendly tracks.
Thus, the playing XI we are looking at now stands as follows: Rana, Tripathi, Gill, Morgan (c), Karthik (wk), Russell, Negi, Cummins, Cutting/Ferguson, Krishna, Chakravarthy
The team have four pace bowling options and two spinners, which gives KKR the luxury of bringing in Kuldeep Yadav for Prasidh Krishna on slower pitches without disturbing the overall balance of the team. With the batting line-up potentially extending upto no.9, they can bat freely, aggressively and without the over-circumspection that inevitably follows a team that have collapsed on more than one occasion.
#2 Addressing top-order issues
Nitish Rana and Shubman Gill did start the season quite well with consecutive half-century partnerships alongside twin fifties for Rana himself as well. But after those knocks, the southpaw has fallen apart with scores of 18, 9, 22, 0 and 15. While Gill also got starts on a couple of occasions, he has so far failed to muster a substantial score. Rahul Tripathi, on the other hand, blows hot and cold, which means the team cannot rely on him to lead their innings, just yet.
KKR coach Brendon McCullum didn't hold back in calling his team out for their lack of aggression after Prithvi Shaw demolished KKR's bowling attack with a half-century off just 18 balls. In the very same match, the top three of Nitish Rana, Shubman Gill and Rahul Tripathi combined to score 77 runs off 67 balls, failing to take advantage of the new ball and field restrictions, something which Shaw did to perfection. McCullum said after the game:
"It's very, very disappointing. I think as a player you ask to be given freedom and confidence and loyalty when it comes to selection to go out there and take the game on and be aggressive. And to try and make things happen for your team. And that's the style of play which both myself and the captain have asked of our players. And unfortunately, we're not quite getting there yet and definitely not getting it in the abundance we need."
This definitely calls for a slight reshuffle at the top, with Tripathi resuming his duties as an opener. Gill hasn't been able to get going, and pushing him back a spot could work wonders for him in terms of settling into the innings in the middle overs. Tripathi has played some good cricket whenever an early wicket has fallen in the powerplay this season. He can play the aggressor's role, allowing Rana to settle into his innings - which he hasn't been able to do because of Gill's sluggishness.
Gill at no.3 also provides KKR stability as he can effectively mitigate the overs leading up to the back end of the innings. If allowed to play his natural game, he can anchor the innings to perfection - a role no one has stepped up to perform this season.
If KKR do opt to rehaul their top-order - as McCullum suggested they might - it might also pave the way for exciting talents like Sheldon Jackson to make a mark.
#3 Utilizing squad depth
One major issue in this KKR side is the lack of pure batters, which has already led to them collapsing twice this season. While Morgan, Karthik and Russell do form an enviable middle-order, they haven't been able to stay in the middle for a very long time. KKR have lost 51 wickets in just seven matches - a fact that would concern the team management a lot.
They need one of their Top 3 or maybe even Morgan at 4 to bat through until the very end of the innings and hold up one end to give the other batsman the freedom to take on the bowlers. If Gill at No.3 can do that, then it also allows Morgan, Karthik and Russell to perform even better instead of playing circumspect innings as they have been forced to do this year, and have faltered because of it.
Narine and Shakib have faltered in the middle-order, and the Bangladesh all-rounder has already been dropped from the playing XI. If KKR bring in Pawan Negi and possibly Ben Cutting, it further gives the big three the ticket to go all in without the fear of a lack of batting to come.
As far as bowling goes, while Cummins, Prasidh and Chakravarthy have done fairly well, none of the other bowlers have been able to back them up. Russell, despite picking up a five-for, has been uber-expensive, while Narine, Shakib, Mavi, Nagarkoti and Harbhajan never looked threatening at all. This is where the need to rehaul the attack is prominent. Bringing in the pace of Ferguson is essential and if Negi or Kuldeep can do even remotely well to back Chakravarthy up, it will work wonders for the team.
The sum of the matter is that KKR have allowed the opposition to exploit every weakness of theirs so far. They need to plug holes in the team and identify who their best players are and play them. They need to ensure they tweak their combinations perfectly to suit the conditions they will be playing in, now that the tournament has been shifted to the UAE.
With their remaining matches now expected to be played in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah, where they have a decent record, KKR do have the firepower to turn the tide and make a miraculous comeback. All they need is the belief.
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